Hunted
by xPaige Turnerx
Summary: I squeezed the trigger and waited for her yelp followed by an explosion of red, then sprinted off through the trees." The flock's being taken out one by one, but by who? Read and find out. R&R! :D


**I do not own Maximum Ride, James Patterson does...I wonder how he got her to agree.. :D xP**

Green surrounded me as I landed on the large branch almost completely silent, picking twigs out of my hair, about to start the fight to the death. Nudge was close, I could hear her stumbling around on the path below; I had told her the big gun would be heavy and weigh her down - she should have listened. I pressed my back further against the tree and held my breath as she passed by below me. She was going to be found soon, if not by me, then the others.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, listening for any sign of the others; their feet trudging across the dirt or their uneven breathing. When I was positive that no one else was around I dropped down on the path, clutching my gun in both hands, ready to fire. I walked down the path after her, being careful to lift my feet completely off the ground with each step as to not make noise or stir up dust. I quickly scanned the trees and skies as I went, making sure no one was trying to sneak up on me.

I had thought I lost her for a second but then her shoulder came into view, so I crouched down behind a bush, lining up my shot through it. I squeezed the trigger and waited for her yelp followed by the explosion of red, then sprinted off through the trees, ducking under branches as I went, smirking to myself.

Gazzy's trail was easy to pick up, other than the smell, there were distinct foot prints of where he would spin around and check his back - something Nudge should have tried. Shaking my head, I watched as he scrambled to climb the tree with one hand while the other held his gun. This was too easy- _**BOOM!**_ I jumped back and took off running a new direction, I could not believe he used bombs.

It probably wasn't the best battle tactic, but I jumped into the air, unfurling my wings and headed back to the mini mushroom cloud. I shot Gazzy in the butt as I flew by while he examined what was left of his explosive. A cheap shot, I know - but hey, he tried to blow me up!

Two down, three to go. They were going to be difficult, I'd have to save the hardest for last, hoping they wouldn't plan and take me out together. _Iggy, here I come._

I should have guessed he would be out in the open, that way he'd hear anyone trying to sneak up on him. I needed to be close to guarantee a hit, but he'd hear me coming. I pulled everything I had in my pockets out, tossing them all around him. Before they hit the ground, I angled down and poured on the super speed, laughing at his gasp as I shot him in the chest. The bottoms of my feet brushed the ground before I shot back up in the air again.

Two to go.

I had landed again and was walking down another path when I ducked just in time to miss Fang's shot. I leaped forward before he could take aim again, grabbing hold of his gun. I got a nagging tingly feeling in the back of my head and looked over my shoulder just in time to see Angel laughing and shooting. I spun Fang around so he was in front of me, taking the hit right in the forehead. I giggled as he growled in frustration.

One to go.

I raced off in the sky again, knowing the only way to beat Angel was speed. An idea struck me and I flipped onto my back mid air, zipping through the sky towards Angel again. I had hoped my plan would work. I could see her in the sky as well, searching for me. Her face went from shocked to smiling when she saw me, she knew my plan. Cheating little mind-reader. She laughed as I scowled.

I soared forward, spinning, ducking, swerving, and deflecting all her shots with my own. When I heard her gun click, signaling she was out of shots, I slowed down and stopped in front of her. "Well, well, well.." I laughed. "You're good - I'll give you that much. You survived the others and took out Fang. _But_ you should have stopped there, I'm undefeated champion." I grinned, letting a shot fire to her stomach, splattering us both with red.

She looked up, holding her stomach. "You take paint ball too serious, Max." She said, laughing and flying down to rinse off the paint with the others as my mom handed out towels.

I didn't really want to go down there with the others, Jeb was also there and he'd be bothering me all day. Then he had the nerve to _insist_ on me training, so I had to spend forever telling him no. The guy doesn't listen very well. I flew down and groaned internally as Jeb walked over to me with a disapproving look. "Max, you need to tra-" I flung a towel in his face, cutting him off.

"Who wants to go for a fly?" I asked, praying someone did so I could get out of here before he got the towel off his face. On cue, my little mind-reader was up in the air, followed by Nudge, Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang. "We'll be back for supper mom." I hollered down as we took off up into the clouds..well, around the clouds. I learnt my lesson last time, clouds were not made of cotton candy, they were _very_ cold and _very_ wet.


End file.
